Just a Dream
by aavonlea
Summary: Her hand felt like home. Her smile was her anchor. This felt like a dream, one she didn't want to wake up from.


**(A/N) Once again, please excuse any mistakes because it's almost 3:30AM and I'm slapping myself repeatedly for staying up this late to post this in the first place so I wasn't too careful about proofreading.**

* * *

She often wondered what the girl's hand would feel like were it intertwined with her own. She also wondered if she would ever get used to her smile even if she saw it every day for the rest of her life… Her smile was different. Ever so slightly slanted, wide with every tooth showing or small and shy. You could read her emotions on her lips. She wondered how her lips would feel on her own...

"Skye? Skye!"

The girl was suddenly shaken from her daydreaming by the other woman's sharp voice. "What? What happened?"

"Umm… you've been staring at the menu for almost ten minutes and the waiter's here…" Jemma said, her voice quieting a bit in embarrassment. Skye looked up and, sure enough, their waiter was back with a rather annoyed expression on his face.

"Right, sorry. I'll… um…" she quickly scanned the menu, not actually having read it yet. "I'll… uh… have the BLT and fries. Please," she added a moment afterward, though the glare and eye roll from the waiter made her regret her attempt at being polite.

"I'll have the fish and chips," Jemma said, giving the man a kind smile as he turned to leave that almost made Skye fall into another daze.

Skye was in a bliss… and she wondered if she should actually be put off by how blissful it really was. The thought disappeared after a second.

"Probably not the best choice in restaurants," Skye said, realizing too late that her hand had traveled towards the other girl's before stopping it a couple inches away. "The… uh… the service here isn't very good."

"I think it was a brilliant choice," Jemma said, smiling back before closing the distance between their hands.

Her hand was warm, inviting, like home.

* * *

"I think we should've asked for the other gig," Skye said, slumping back against the cold wall in the small room they now hid in. "It probably would've been more fun. At least we'd get to see some action."

"Last time you saw action I ended up having to stitch up a shallow stab wound," Jemma replied, rolling her eyes but grinning.

"I like it when you play doctor with me," Skye said, a mischievous glint in her eyes that caused a tinge of redness to creep onto the scientist's cheek.

"It's not 'playing' when you actually are a doctor," Jemma replied, all her effort focused on keeping eye contact and not blushing even more.

Skye stood up from her spot and stepped toward the other girl, purposefully getting as close as possible to her and laying a gentle hand on her waist. Skye could feel Jemma shiver beneath her touch and grinned.

"Skye, we need to focus on surveillance," Jemma said, though Skye could hear the smile in her voice. Again, everything felt so incredibly blissful… like everything in the world could never be more perfect… like nothing could be this impossibly perfect.

"Maybe the others gave us the easy gig for exactly this reason," Skye said, leaning closer until their lips touched.

It wasn't their first kiss, not by a long shot, but every one of their kisses felt like it could've been the first.

* * *

"Hey, Jem?" Skye said as the two walked hand-in-hand along the sand toward the ocean water. Thanks to the location of the mission, they had one night by this beach before they were scheduled to return to base in the morning.

"Yeah?" the other woman replied.

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?" Skye asked. The both of them stepped barefoot into the cool water. The foam lapped over their feet in a steady rhythm. The reflection of the half-moon poking through the dusk sky shimmered in the water. A few stars were appearing as well.

"More times than I can count," Jemma replied with a light laugh. "Have I ever told you?"

"Every day," Skye said, smiling. "And have I ever told you how happy you make me?"

Jemma simply looked at Skye, nodding with a cheeky grin.

"There isn't anyone who could ever make me as happy as you make me. You know that, right?" Skye whispered, her hold tightening slightly over the other woman's hand. Her gaze was suddenly serious. "You know that right? I love you, Jem."

"Yes. And you know how much I love you, don't you?" Jemma asked her in reply. "You're my lover… my life…"

At this moment, the world felt too perfect to be true.

What was in Skye's pocket suddenly weighed her down, but she no longer felt like it was possible that Jemma would ever say no. Everything was possible. Everything was amazing and perfect and bliss as she reached to take the ring out of her pocket.

"Jemma, will you-"

And that moment of perfection ended. As the scene changed everything turned to flames. The air burned like acid in her throat and Skye suddenly found herself spluttering, taking in her bearings.

"Guys, the exit's this way!" she could hear someone shouting in the distance, Trip she thought.

"Jemma!" she found herself screaming, because she was now the only thing that mattered. The building was on fire, and she knew that Jemma was still on the second floor. "Jemma! Jemma!"

"Skye!" she heard the muffled, choked reply coming from the direction of the staircase. "Skye! Skye…"

Skye was kicking away debris, running as fast as she could with the waves of dizziness the smoke caused. Jemma was making her way in a stumbling fashion from the stairs, her eyes misted over and unfocused. Skye had to reach her now.

Then the sky fell… or rather, the ceiling crumbled. The last glimpse of Jemma that Skye saw was the glint of gold on her ring finger. Skye was mystified, caught up in the image of the hand that had carried the feeling of home for her for so long.

Then the heat seared in around her. She wondered if perhaps she had died, for if Skye had to venture a guess at what hell felt like, this would be it.

* * *

She jolted out of her slumber, her breathing ragged and sharp, beads of sweat on her brow.

It was only just a dream.

Skye looked up from where she'd fallen asleep, against a hard stone surface. Her fingers ran over the cold ground beneath her, feeling the textures of grass and dirt. And then she sighed, her gaze caught on what she'd been leaning against.

"Sorry, Jem. I fell asleep again," Skye said, smiling down at the stone.

_Jemma Simmons. September 11, 1987 - September 21, 2017. Fiance, Friend, and Hero._

She looked up to the quote at the top of the stone, reading it and reading it again. "Please, remember to take care of yourself." It was something Jemma had said so often throughout the years that the entire team thought it fitting to put on the marker.

"I'd spend the night with you here, Jem. I know these places are kind of grim… but it's okay. I like it here because you're h-here… and because of that… it's home. You'll always be my home," she whispered, a loving smile on her face as the tears fell over her cheeks in the way they always did.

She waited, wondering if Jemma would answer back, perhaps telling her to go home and get some sleep. Skye didn't need sleep, though. She just… she wished she could go back to the start. When she could still daydream about Jemma's lips on hers… and the feel of their fingers intertwined.

"You were never… You were never supposed to… Jemma, you were never just a dream."

"Skye." The voice reached her from behind as it always did, sad yet strong.

She didn't move.

"Skye…" Coulson said again, reaching a hand down to her shoulder. Skye sighed.

"I'll be back tomorrow, Jem," Skye said, then left at Coulson's side.

The air was still, silent, cold.

* * *

**(A/N) I know, I'm cruel. But I laugh at your tears.**


End file.
